Visitor Visa

A visitor visa will be issued to you in case you are visiting India to meet relatives or friends or for any other legitimate purpose at their invitation.

Applicants traveling on a visitor visa are expected to stay with their relatives/friends in India.

The following documents needs to be submitted for a visitor visa:

Documents from India:

1) Sponsorship Certificate: (for format please click here) (for any one place to be visited): This certificate should also be countersigned by any of the following Indian government officials (DM/ SP/SDM/ Tehsildar/ BDO/ SHO/ Groups A officer of State and Central Government/ Principal of a Government college and Principal / headmaster of a Government School), who will certify that they personally know your Indian sponsor. Sponsorship certificate is mandatory for all visitor visa cases.

2) The Indian government official should also attach a self-attested copy of their photo identity card along with his/her contact number (landline preferable) along with the sponsorship certificate.

3) Any two of these documents of the Indian invitee: passport (preferred), copy of electricity bill, telephone bill, ration card, election card, clearly mentioning the address and contact numbers.

Documents from Pakistan: 1) Copy of NADRA Card along with its English translation

You can apply for a maximum of 5 (five) specified places. For this you would need a sponsorship letter from at least one place. You do not need a separate invitation / sponsorship certificate for each city.

In addition to sponsorship certificate, you do not need a separate invitation from the same person.

In case you and your family will be visiting India together, then in such a case you need to submit only one sponsorship certificate, which will have names and photographs of all the members of the family.

Even if you do not have in your name, any utility bills of your present residence, you can still submit the same along with your visa application. However, you would be required to submit an affidavit, duly notarised, explaining the reason why the utility bills are not in your name. Please note that the address you enter in the visa application form should match the address mentioned on the utility bill of your present address.

Since December 2012, the following category of people, if they request, can be considered for issuance of two year multiple entry visa for up to 5 (five) places: a) Senior citizens (those above 65 years of age); b) Pakistani nationals, married to an Indian national; and c) Children below 12 years of age accompanying parent(s) as given in (b) above.

In case you are in category b) and c), you will have to furnish the following two ADDITIONAL documents along with rest of the documents and visa application:

duly attested marriage certificate (with English translation, if the original is in any other language), and

copy of spouse's Indian passport with valid Pakistani visa or resident permit

In case you are a member of any of the above, and would be liable to pay taxes in India as per law, then you should apply for a VISITOR VISA and put purpose of visit as COMMERCIAL PERFORMANCE. If these two entries are not made against the appropriate column in the visa application, your visa application will be summarily rejected.

Since you will be liable to pay taxes in India for the income earned in India, you are advised to obtain a PAN (Permanent Account Number) card from the Income Tax Department in India during your first visit to India, as it has to be mentioned at the time of paying taxes.

The following documents needs to be submitted along with your visa application:

Documents from India: 1) Letter of invitation from ALL the organisers of the events in India 2) Any two documents of the Indian invitee such as passport (preferred), copy of electricity bill, telephone bill, ration card, election card, along with their address and contact numbers.

Documents from Pakistan: 1) Copy of NADRA Card along with its English translation 2) Copy of a utility bill, such as electricity bill/gas bill/ landline telephone bill 3) Request for letter for visa by the company/organisation/individual

Yes. In case you fall under this category, an additional endorsement “commercial performance permitted” and “liable to pay taxes in India” will be made on your visa.

In case it is not endorsed on your visa, please let us know. This is important because if you do perform in India without that endorsement, it would amount to visa violation and could result in visa cancelation, deportation or non issuance of visa in the further.